News

A special program will be held at the planetarium at C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge beginning at 7 p.m. Friday called “Star of Bethlehem.” Held over three Friday’s in December, the show will also feature a program on how to view stars from your own backyard as well as a holiday laser light show.

More information is available on the planetarium’s website. Show times are 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, then again on Dec. 9 and 16. Tickets are $10 cash (exact change is required), and seats will be available to the first 65 patrons, according to the website.

Woodbridge, Va. — After 34 years with Prince William County’s fire department, Chief Hadden Culp will take off his fire hat one last time Wednesday.

From his office in at the McCoart Building on Prince William Parkway in Woodbridge, Culp, 54, has overseen a large portion of the department, including community outreach division in charge of fire prevention, safety education, and the fire marshal’s office that investigates some of the most sinister fires.

Thanksgiving is one of those quintessentially American holidays. It serves to remind us of who we are as a nation.

The Thanksgiving holiday was not always celebrated in the manner that we’ve become accustomed to. And it wasn’t always celebrated in late November, although I would find it hard to celebrate such a day at any other time.

My family has always shared hosting holiday get-togethers. This year I am doing Thanksgiving, again.

There have been some memorable times in the past, like the time I allowed the peelings from a 10 pound bag of potatoes to go down the garbage disposal and clog it one hour before all the guests arrived.

While backing out of my driveway early Friday, I saw this large hawk looking down on me from a tree.

Growing up, if it was a particularly cold morning my Dad would announce “The hawk is out!”

Woodbridge, Va. — It’s that time of year again when Santa and Mrs. Claus come down from the North Pole to ride on Virginia Railway Express.

Tickets to the immensely popular Santa Trains will go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday for $5 each, $6 if purchased on VRE’s website via PayPal. They usually sell out fast.

By Mary Davidson

Holiness Tabernacle Church of God in Christ on Saturday gave away turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner to needy residents in the Potomac Communities.

Holiness Tabernacle Church of God in Christ for the third year in a row will distribute free turkeys to the community starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. Last year the church have away 200 birds ready to cook for the traditional holiday meal, but this year the church plans to distribute 500.

“Just come by and pick up a turkey. We are always doing something to help the community and especially around the holiday, our desire is to make a difference in our community and spread the gospel,” said church spokesman Andre Powell.

Woodbridge, Va. — A polarizing figure that surfaced during President Barack Obama’s campaign, one he distanced himself from, is scheduled to appear in Woodbridge.

Ebenezer Baptist Church in Woodbridge invited the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. to appear January 14 for a fundraising event.

The year was 1945 and the U.S. Government had a major dilemma on its hands. Nazi Germany had been totally defeated but the world was lurching headlong into a new conflict pitting the U.S. against its former World War II ally, the Soviet Union.

The new conflict would be known as the Cold War and its first flashpoint would be in conquered Germany itself, where the Allies had agreed to divide the country into zones of occupation. The precise boundaries of these occupation zones had not yet been drawn. The Soviets raced in from the East to grab as much of Germany as they could and the U.S., Britain and France raced in from the West to grab as much of the country as they could.